ABSTRACT
This chapter gives a comprehensive overview of mother-daughter relationships, so that this dyad can be more fully explored. The background section examines the mother-daughter dyad through the theories conveyed by Adrienne Rich, Nancy Chodorow, Carol Gilligan, Patricia Hill Collins, and Gloria Anzaldúa to provide a foundation of understanding how mothers and daughters have a bond that may include separation and connection. In the subsequent section, there is an examination of the mother-daughter relationship outside of the heteronormative framework. The future directions section examines the need for a greater intersectionality of perspectives and representations of the mother-daughter dyad, especially in regard to the overlap of mothering and motherhood with various factors such as race, class, gender, sexuality, ability, “othermothers,” adopted mothers, and lesbian mothers. The chapter concludes with an urgent call to have new analyses of the mother-daughter relationship that reflect the political, cultural, and social realities of mothers and daughters to a greater extent.
